Opinion: Discover 5 ways to transform the annual employee performance review

Halogen Software provides some ideas on how to take performance management to the next level.

What’s the answer to transforming performance management from an unwelcome once-a-year task into a strategic and responsive process that aligns and engages your entire workforce? Halogen Software provides 5 ongoing activities to take performance management to the next level.

It is true there’s been a lot of discussion on how dysfunctional the performance appraisal has become ‒ including how it can lead to lower employee engagement and productivity. In fact, in many organisations, the performance management process:
  • Is viewed as a negative experience by employees and managers
  • Is unable to flex with changing business goals and objectives
  • Doesn’t provide insight into employee progress and skill gaps
By gathering information on performance once or twice annually, performance management becomes punitive rather than productive in the eyes of employees. Furthermore, traditional performance management is not tied to business outcomes or overall organisational success. Finally, many companies use outdated technology that fails to align performance with overall company objectives.

So what’s the answer to transforming performance management from an unwelcome once-a-year task into a strategic and responsive process that aligns and engages your entire workforce?

If your organisation truly wants to mature its performance management practices, you need to adopt performance and development activities that happen throughout the year. Here are 5 examples of ongoing activities you can implement to take your performance management to the next level.
 
  1. Quarterly goal setting: Aligning, setting and managing goals are at the heart of performance management. When it comes to setting goals, the best outcomes result from goals that are both meaningful and challenging for employees.
  2. Development discussions: Discussions about career progression drive employee engagement and productivity. By fostering a culture of personal development and career progression, organisations can increase retention rates, reinforce their commitment to employee learning and attract top talent.
  3. 360 feedback assessments: Multisource feedback is essential for getting a broader, more objective perspective on employee performance, strengths and areas for development. This also provides a more accurate performance rating and increases employee acceptance of performance feedback.
  4. Project reviews: Holding regular project reviews provides a valuable opportunity to inform managers how someone is performing throughout the year. These regular project reviews benefit organisational performance by giving employees the timely, fresh and continuous feedback they need to develop and succeed.
  5. Check-ins: An effective and easy way to build strong manager-employee relationships is through frequent check-ins where communication is two-way, open and honest. This check-in-style of performance management provides managers with an opportunity to review goal status, provide feedback, and coach employees on a regular basis, which can lead to higher engagement and performance.
 
To explore each of these activities in more detail, including how you can implement them using an automated and integrated talent management solution ‒ the Halogen TalentSpace™ suite ‒ download the comprehensive new eBook “5 Ways To Transform The Annual Performance Review”.
Download the eBook

Interested in experiencing how cloud-based Halogen TalentSpace™ solutions can help transform your performance management process? Book your complimentary trial today.
 

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